Tag Archives: changes with mental illness

No News Is Sometime Good News

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It’s been rather uneventful for the last few days in my life with mental illness.  I really haven’t had any mental health issues.  Been feeling pretty quiet and content for at least a week.  After four weeks of medications changes I am now to where I can feel anger without fear of going psychotic.  Haven’t been able to exercise much because we’ve had lots of rain and chilly weather.  But in spite of not being able to exercise I have been feeling well.  I do feel a little cooped up as I haven’t been able to get out and about much, just because of the rain.  But the forecast looks hopeful.  Maybe I can get back outside exercising every day again soon.  May and June have always been my best months mentally.  April was decent considering I was undergoing a medication change.  I see my psych doctor again at the end of May to see what future medication changes are needed.  So far things are looking uneventful but hopeful.  I’ll keep you posted.

Changes

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It’s been one week since I started the medications change.  I’m noticing big differences already.  For one, I make it a point to leave my apartment multiple times a day whereas I may have left only once or twice a day if at all.  Not only am I getting out more, I actually want to get out more.  Driving doesn’t cause me as much agitation now, so it’s easier to get across town.  Been to the park most days this last week.

I am more motivated and less lazy too it seems.  Finally shaved my winter beard.  I looked more like a mad prophet than a mountaineer with my growth.  I never looked good with beards.  I rearranged my apartment.  I even find myself watching baseball every night, especially since the season started a few days ago.  I used to go weeks without watching regular tv as I thought it was mind numbing and soul killing.  I still think most tv is mind numbingly stupid but I no longer swear off it entirely.

The only real negative I have seen is that I do get hungry more frequently.  Used to be I could eat a large breakfast, a small afternoon snack, and a decent dinner and that is all I would need for the day.  Now I have eat smaller meals every five hours it seems.  I’ve also developed a bad craving for sugary food.  This may make my weight loss tougher but then I have always been a naturally very large person.  I was one of these heavy kids in high school and college who had a lot of muscle in addition to being a little fat, so I looked a lot better than my measurements would have indicated.  I have had female friends for years tell me I was handsome despite how big I am.  I never put much stock in it until I hit my thirties because, really, how many teenagers and twenty somethings are satisfied with their looks even on a good day?  I guess my sugar cravings have replaced my cravings for caffeine.  I have drank maybe three cups of coffee in the last week.  I used to drink that many before noon most days.  I don’t have problems with blood pressure or cholesterol, at least not enough to be on medications.  But maybe my decreased want of caffeine will lower my blood pressure and reduce my anxiety level.

It has been an eye opening first week of a medication change.  I normally don’t experience this many changes this soon when switching medications.  But I hope the positive changes keep coming and the negative ones can be compensated for.

Changing Medications

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Saw my psych doctor a few days ago.  We agreed that a change in medications is in order.  Neither one of us think the meds I was on for the last two years are as effective as they once were.  He had me do a DNA cheek swab to be tested to see what medications would be effective given my DNA. The results will be in probably by the time I see him again in two weeks.  The tests may not be perfect but they should give us a better idea of what will and won’t work.  But these tests weren’t even around when I was diagnosed fifteen years ago.  For most of my illness we were merely throwing darts in the dark hoping to hit on something that would work.  We were just guessing, especially in the first year. For now I am starting the process of switching back to one of my previous medications.  I was on that med for several years but wanted to switch because it was known to promote weight gain.  But it sure was effective.  It’s too bad I let the side effects sabotage my previous attempts at weight loss.  Looking back, I think I used the side effect as an excuse not to be serious about my health.

In spite my recent mental health problems I managed to lose over twelve pounds in the first month of tracking my eating and exercising.  I’m seeing now that keeping track of what I eat is the difference between losing weight and gaining weight.  I was simply unaware of how much I really ate when I wasn’t tracking.  I am one of these people who would sometime eat just out of boredom.  But that has changed.  For my diet I cook almost all of my meals and I severely limit carbs.  I don’t even keep bread in the apartment anymore, haven’t for almost six months.  The weight loss has been the bright spot of this last month.  And I haven’t been crazy about my exercising.  I usually just walk twenty minutes a day probably five or six days a week.  I intend to keep this up even while changing medications.

Stability With Schizophrenia and Updates

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It’s been awhile since I posted.  Some updates and randomness are in order.  With spring being in full effect now, I’ve been outdoors and exercising every day.  We have a park that has some hiking trails that I’ve been doing for close to an hour a day about three to four days per week for the last few weeks.  Still get a little muscle soreness from this but I’m doing far better than where I was one year ago.

The mental health is even more stable at least 95 percent of the time.  I still have my occasional flare ups, especially under stress.  Fortunately I’ve gotten to where I either isolate to avoid physical contact with people or I’ll call a friend or family member and just talk my way back down.  Some of these conversations are scary even for me.  I know it’s even more so for those talking me back to sense, especially when I get personal about my rants.  I just hope friends and family don’t take anything personal because I am not vindictive or combative by nature.

I also got a different car.  A family friend was looking to sell a ten year sedan with only 34,000 miles.  So we, my family and I, took it.  My previous car was starting to have issues.  But it was over fifteen years old.  Many people don’t have houses that old.  With my newer car I’ve been getting out a little more.  I rarely travel outside my hometown during the winter months.

I’m going to be a groomsman in a college friend’s wedding this July.  They are both high school teachers in South Dakota.  It’s an outdoor wedding in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Beautiful country, especially in the summer.  If you haven’t been there, I recommend it.  I had to get measured for a suit.  I was measured a few years ago for when I was a pallbearer at my grandmother’s funeral, but since I lost weight I was due for a remeasure.  I get to spend three days in the Black Hills, always one of my favorite vacation spots.

Overall, things have been going well.  Been exercising almost everyday.  The weather is excellent.  The mental illness problems are at a minimum.  My new car is serving me well.  My old friend from college is getting married and I get to see it up close.  I’m getting out more.  No more spending entire days indoors because of winter weather.  I have been silent on this blog for a few weeks.  Not because things have gone bad, it’s because things have been going well.  Sometimes no news is good news.